Critical Issues in Healthcare Policy and Politics in the Gulf Cooperation Council States

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The six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries (Saudi Arabia, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, and Bahrain) have made considerable efforts to boost their healthcare sectors, but despite the region's wealth, their healthcare infrastructure and capacity still lag behind. This is now a pressing problem. Rapid changes to the environment and lifestyles of the GCC states have completely changed the health profile of the region. While major successes in combatting infectious diseases and improving standards of primary healthcare have been reflected in key health indicators, new trends have emerged. Increasingly "lifestyle" or "wealthy country" diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, and cancer, have replaced the old maladies. These new challenges require highly trained and skilled healthcare workers, an environment that supports local training, state of the art diagnostic laboratories and hospitals, research production and dissemination, and knowledge acquisition to meet emerging healthcare needs. The GCC faces shortages of all of these things. This book provides a comprehensive study of the rapidly changing health profile of the region, the existing conditions of healthcare systems, and the challenges posed to healthcare management across the six states of the GCC.